Vein of Grief
by SymOfNight
Summary: Drakengard and Drakengard 2 fanfic. Contains violence, language, and confusion. Basically about Caim and Nowe displaced to the other's story.
1. Chapter 1

_Warning: This story will, contain violence, language, and extremely convenient situations (at least).On a lighter note, be warned that drama really isn't my thing so don't be too cruel with reviews (or is that a heavier note?) _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Drakengard though it would be awesome to tell people that I do since it's such a wonderfully psychotic series. Well, I wouldn't want to claim ownership to the giant babies. _

**Vein of Grief **

Chapter 1

_Crimson blood will flow_. Caim laughed in pure mirth as those words echoed through his mind. He could see the front line of the Empire's red-eyed soldiers lined up from afar. The battle will begin soon.

"Lord Caim, we have prepared the catapults and the archers are ready to fire when you give the signal," said a plain faced knight, just one of many casualties to come.

Caim barely acknowledged his existence, his mind was already nearing that place…where he really wasn't human anymore or maybe it was the pure delight he took from bloodshed that made him more human then the rest of these people whose eyes couldn't hide their horror.

Furiae was safe at the Castle of the Goddess and Inuart was with her so Caim felt that he was free to just battle. The former Prince turned toward his unit of scared young men. They were always the ones at the front, the old soldiers, the survivors, knew better.

"Fire the catapults," Caim commanded. There was a small lag as the order was passed back and soon flaming debris was thrown at the enemy line. It was the start of Caim's first 'official' battle against the Empire.

He drew his sword and took a moment to feel its sure, cold weight in the palm of his hand before he raced forward, leading the charge on foot. There was no need for horses in such a close battle. Besides, he thought that the generals on their horses were just trying to take themselves away from the face-to-face carnage in battle and Caim certainly didn't want that.

His breath and pulse quickened at once when he drove his sword right through the first unlucky soldier's helmet. An arc of blood wet his skin, Caim turned his head downward to prevent it from getting in his eyes as he turned and slashed one of the men who tried to get past him.

Screams, blood, pain, and the delicious look of horror and agony on the victim's faces engulfed him. Caim laughed and pushed forward. More bodies, more blood, more ache.

'Crimson blood will flow', she had said before they went off to battle. The daft fortuneteller had warned them of this, like violence and bloodshed were something new to the art of battle.

"More. Come if you wish for death," he hissed as he grabbed the hand of another soldier. He had noticed out of the corner of his eye that the young man was trying to escape back through the ranks as soon as he saw Caim. The bloodthirsty warrior's smile widened as he drove his sword through the space between the breastplate and his arm, slicing soft flesh before bringing his sword out and driving it in again.

_Bloodshed is the only thing that comes of battle. War can be sensible but I can't understand you preoccupation with taking lives. _

Caim blinked as he felt the bite of metal at his left shoulder. The pain was delayed but it may as well have been an aphrodisiac for him. That same, twisted grin was turned toward the man lucky enough to have hurt him. He lost his head in one smooth slash that sent two other men back in the process. Battle was his realm.

_Damn human. You're only 'alive' when taking the lives of others? Isn't there something better you could be doing with that brute strength of yours? _

Caim slid on blood, the once green grass was crimson. He turned, ready to strike as he felt someone come up behind him but his sword stayed an inch from the man's head when he recognized the blue of the Union.

"Lord Caim, they have reinforcements. They're attacking our flank," the man said, visibly quite terrified.

Caim squinted. the man's words were fuzzy to his battle-addled brain. It took them a minute to even compute as he stabbed an unsuspecting soldier that tried to take out the messenger. Their flank. The Empire had more soldiers? They were already outnumbered from the start. His eyes showed a bit more then bloodlust at the thought. If they were all killed here then the rest of the army would march onward. Their goal was the castle of the Goddess. To kill Furiae. Caim bit his tongue and finally found his voice.

"Send a message to Lord Merrive's men. They're supposed to be stationed on the far side of the field. Perhaps they can cut off the reinforcements."

The man nodded and he was off. Caim tried to get his mind to focus as he once again raced off to the heat of battle. He didn't want to think about it, all he wanted to do was play his part as a soldier and kill all the Empire bastards. Even if it cost his life, for what other use was there for it?

_Go ahead and keep killing, human. I won't stop you. There is amusement in watching your confusion. _

Confusion? He wasn't confused at all. Caim sailed through three larger knights and let three fireballs flow from his hand, more like water then fire. He watched with morbid satisfaction as they were engulfed and he was off again. No, all he had to do was fight. Lord Merrive may be a coward but his underlings were smart enough to know the current battle was vital to their overall success.

_Still belaboring that issue? I suppose you'll just have to be shown…not that I think you could ever change. _

It was the Caim noticed that the words he assumed were remembered from that damned fortune teller were actually resounding in his head. The voice was smooth, feminine, and cruelly uncaring. He paused long enough to receive a shallow hit in the side before he repelled from the oncoming enemy and sliced into three of them viciously. What was it?

_Hold on. Hmm, 'Crimson blood will flow'. I agree, it's a stupid thing to say._

Caim spun for another round but as he turned the entire world went black. He blinked. Had he gone blind? The knight struck out at the enemy he knew was in front of him but his sword came into contact with nothing. He noticed that the air was heavier and he could barely breathe for the smell. It was distinctly ashen, like he were engulfed by flames. Caim looked down at his bloody armor. He could clearly see it, so he couldn't have gone blind.

"…Where am I?"

_You can go ahead and struggle. It's more amusing that way. _

Now the voice sounded like it was coming from all around him, the cause of all this. He wasn't going to play the game. No need to give satisfaction to the enemy that he couldn't even sense. Caim bit his tongue again and drove his sword into the ground.

_Good boy. _

Instead of falling right into the black void, as he expected, the blade sunk into the ground, giving some resistance like he had pushed it into soft earth. Green spread forth from the tip of the blade, like a drop of color into a basin of clear water. The air was still heavy but there was distinct moisture and it wasn't long before Caim turned his head up to see the sky. It was raining. He pushed his long bangs away from his face and took a good look around.

The countryside was vastly unfamiliar; all he could see through the gloom of the storm was green grass weighed down by the rain. So he was in the middle of a field. From the looks of things this area was abandoned. All was perfectly silent with the exception of the downpour. It was so frighteningly calm. Caim looked down at himself again and saw the mingled blood start to fade with the water. His wounds must have been getting to him as everything blurred. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out, he was too exhausted.

_I suppose I should welcome you, Caim. Have a nice time. _

_Okay so this was just a start. I know it's short, I just wanted to put it up and take note of what people might think. Like I said before, drama isn't my strongpoint so I hope that it was okay. _


	2. Chapter 2

_Warning: This story will contain violence, language, and you will notice the extremely convenient situations with no explanation offered whatsoever. Speculation rocks. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Drakengard or Drakengard 2 but I think that's a given. It never fails though that every time I play the game and one of the actors says 'Square-Enix', I jump. Every single time. Then they went and said 'Cavia' too for the second game, but that's not as shocking. Oh yeah, the story…here it is. _

**Vein of Grief **

Chapter 2

He had to fight. That thought still floated at the top of his mind. Caim wanted to escape the heavy weight of slumber and just _fight_. He hated dreaming, it was more remembering and that was enough to make him madder then he already was. His limbs felt heavy and his head burned but he could just make out voices nearby.

"I hope he wakes up soon. We can't have some knight just lying around forever," the voice was distinctly male…and annoyed.

"He was injured. I couldn't just leave him out in the middle of nowhere. He'd die," the second speaker was female. Her voice had an almost pleading quality to it as she spoke to her companion.

As Caim became more aware of his surroundings he felt something slightly soft underneath him. He numbly heard the clatter of boots and he felt a presence over his head.

"I could care less if he were begging you for help. There haven't been any battles near the Blessed Plains. This is the epicenter of the knights for pity's sake! This man will be nothing but trouble."

Caim wanted to frown but he still didn't have full control of his body. He wasn't usually like this with such shallow injuries. There must have been another reason.

"Stop talking like that. Someone will hear you," she replied.

The knight struggled against sleep and at once the heaviness seeped out of his limbs. He could now clearly feel something hard beneath the cloth he lied upon and there was another on top of him. His entire body tensed and Caim sat up straight, eyes wide as the full memory of what had happened to him set in. He heard a gasp to his right as the woman backed away.

The warrior turned his head to face the two that had spoken. They were both older, on into their late forties or so. The woman's amber eyes were wide and as Caim took notice of her clothes he saw that they were noble-made but gone to seed and threadbare. The man was hard to distinguish through his mess of tangled grey hair. He moved up and drew an arm around the woman, pulling her back.

From what Caim saw in their small home, it didn't seem that conditions were too good. They were in a small room and two beds sagged against the wall to his right. There were barely any possessions around the home and he could see visible rot on the wood of the walls. Caim could tell that the two were unhealthily thin as well, their clothes hung loosely on their bodies and the woman's face and eyes were hollow

"Don't try anything funny. I was a member of the Union's army before retiring after the war," said the man.

This man had obviously agreed to take Caim in but now he was threatening him. Talk about paranoia. Caim glared but there were more important matters at hand.

"…"

Caim shut his mouth. He tried to ask but all he had done was gulp like a fish out of water. He rubbed his throat and then went for another go. The woman hid behind her husband but her beady eyes still peeked out at the young man.

"What's this now? If you're going to say something then say it!"

"…!"

Caim stopped trying. Had that same voice taken away his ability to speak? He certainly couldn't remember being mute.

"…I don't think he can speak," the woman finally said. Caim nodded.

"You seem surprised. You could before?" Caim jerked his head up and down again in irritation.

Apparently being mute led to more trust then just being injured as the woman immediately softened a bit. She moved over and poured relatively clear water into a small cup before handing it to Caim. He tasted it, just to be sure, before his desperate thirst made itself known. Sometimes it sucked to be human. She crossed her arms and regarded him neutrally.

"Hmm so you lost your voice during battle? I guess some people are too sensitive for battle."

Caim spit out the water in his mouth and shook with unintentionally silent laughter. She now looked at him like he was insane.

The man approached for the first time and presented Caim with a crumpled piece of parchment, ink, and a thin pen. Caim's scowl deepened.

"Here. Since you can understand us I'll hope that you can write our language. You look nobly born and your clothes and weapons say as much."

The man moved back and they were all silent as Caim thought on what he may or may not say. The woman jerked to life again and took the empty cup away from the soldier.

"Oh yes. How rude of me not to introduce myself. I'm Laurel and this is my husband, Grieg."

"Laurel!" He scolded.

"There's no harm in him knowing. He can't exactly say it aloud."

Caim could honestly care less about their names but he did have some questions. He put the paper on the hard stone of their small home and started writing. Though he hadn't ever been keen on writing regularly he had been made to do it enough by his various tutors as a child so he was quick. He presented the paper to Grieg and the man handed it to his wife to read aloud. She squinted and held the sheet close, then far, to focus.

"I happen to be a soldier of the former Union. When did the war end?" she put down the paper to speak, "and you couldn't even give us a name?"

Caim shrugged. He didn't want to give away too much about himself and still get the most information possible. It seemed like the best tactic. Grieg moved to front of the room and opened the wooden shutters on their windows a crack. He looked out and then secured them again. Caim assumed they thought him a fugitive. Either that or there was something more to be afraid of.

"The war with the Empire ended just over eighteen years ago. Can't you remember? It almost destroyed the world. No one even speaks about it any longer since the Knights of the Seal have taken over. I suppose you don't know them?"

Caim shook his head.

"Well they came from the Union mostly, and were founded by a man named Oror. He was a wonderful knight and humans thrived for a time. He died some years ago and ever since Gismor has taken over there have been fewer freedoms allotted to the villages and many of us have sunk into poverty. Not that I'm complaining. Some stability is better then none at all." Caim detected a note of morbid amusement in Grieg's last statement. None of the names rang true in his mind but if all facts were to be taken into account then he was in the…future. Just thinking it was ridiculous.

That was enough to get by.

Caim threw off the thin blanket that covered his body and he got shakily to his feet. He was missing his shirt but he still wore his pants and his shoes waited at the foot of the makeshift bed. He shot a warning look at Laurel so she wouldn't come any closer after seeing her fidget. They had bandaged his wounds so he assumed he would be alright for the moment. Caim pulled on his shoes and glanced around again for the rest of his things.

Laurel knew what he wanted. She shook her head but didn't move closer to him.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but you can't leave. It's the middle of the night and there may be people looking for you."

Who would be looking for him? Caim shook his head and moved toward the couple. Grieg stood his ground and put his arm around his wife so that she would do the same.

"I agree with Laurel. You're in no position to be fighting anyway. You were running quite the fever when I found you."

Caim shook his head and held out his hand expectantly. Grieg sighed.

"Fine. Have it your way but don't say we didn't warn you. It's a weight off of our shoulders anyway. Laurel, get his things."

She looked fearfully at her husband but complied. The woman moved to a trunk hidden under one of the beds and extracted his repaired shirt, armor, and sword. Caim covered the room in three swift steps and rudely grabbed his possessions from her.

"…I do hope you're careful," she said. Laurel moved back to her husband and they watched in silence as Caim put his things back on and sheathed his sword.

The soldier moved to the door and paused for a half a second to nod his head in some form of respect to the two before he strode out. While it was kind of them to take him in he didn't have time for sympathy or kindness.

Caim set his face in grim determination as he set off down the street. The small village was completely unfamiliar to him but he would find his way around somehow. The biggest problem he could see was his strange condition. How had he lost his voice?

----------

"Manah?" Nowe fumbled, arms reaching before him, in pitch black. One minute he had been following the young woman and Urick through the small cave in the Closed Lands but it suddenly became terribly dark and the air was thick and stifling. He felt deaf and the hot air choked him. Where the Hell was he? Nowe turned all around and he paused when he heard a voice.

_Don't fret. You'll soon be in a…well I can't call it a better place. Just stay still, little creature. I can promise that you will have a good time. _

"What? Who's there? Where am I?" Nowe asked, bringing his hands to his mouth to try and magnify his voice. It reverberated in the fathomless space and bounced back to his ears. There was no reply

"At least answer, ow," his voice bounced around his head painfully again.

Nowe helplessly glanced down and leaned to try and see if there was a floor or just more black. Red spread from the point of contact and his fingers were mingled with a crimson liquid as they scraped against stone. Nowe repelled and glanced, wide-eyed at his hand. It was blood.

There were the bodies of soldiers all around him. He stood on a stone dais in the middle of a sea of sand. Nowe blinked. There was a light seal at his feet but as soon as he registered this fact it shattered.

He spun all around. What was going on? What had he done?

_Human! Caim! Where are you? _

"Caim?" Nowe echoed. The voice he heard was that of a dragon's, a female one at that.

"What have you done?" Nowe turned and nearly dropped then and there in shock when he saw what looked like the long-dead Verdelet hobbling toward him. He was immediately joined by a blonde man whose eyes were inexplicably closed.

"You've allowed the seal to be broken…wait…" Verdelet looked Nowe up and down in confusion.

"Who are you?"

Nowe put his hand to his head. What was going on? "Nowe, I think. You're the Hierarch Verdelet, right?"

"Why yes. Do I know you?"

Nowe smiled slightly. "Not exactly. Now where am I?"

"First, where is Caim?" the blonde man asked. Nowe shrugged and regarded him again. Was he blind?

"There was no one else here…but these bodies were," he glanced around. They were all hacked to pieces. What had been here before him? He remembered the name 'Caim' from the story of the hero who helped save the world eighteen years ago but it still baffled him.

"Wait a minute…" Nowe started.

Verdelet ignored him easily. "This was the seal of the desert. The Empire is a step closer to their goal and the Goddess grows more burdened. Whatever shall we do? Have the Gods cursed us to perish?" He collapsed to his knees, as dramatic and self-absorbed as always. Leonard moved his guide stick to the stairs and he climbed upward, tripping slightly on a discarded helmet from one of the enemy soldiers.

"You said your name was Nowe? I am Leonard. It is a pleasure to meet you. Despite the blood and chaos I sense here I can tell that you have nothing to do with it."

Nowe shook his hand. His face was still masked with confusion. It was simple enough to think that he was in the past but…how was that possible? This was all coming too fast for him to understand.

"Uh…nice to meet you too."

"Where could Caim have gone? You don't think that he was-?" Verdelet asked as he slowly got back to his feet.

"No. Caim is much more resilient then that," Leonard said.

"Ah yes, I can hear the dragon."

Nowe blinked. He had only been in this place for five minutes and he could already tell that it was going to be a long night.

_Please comment, I'd love to hear what you think. I've modified the timelines for both games to suit my purposes. I'd be happy to explain any confusion had up to this point. There will be more on the way so you've been warned._


	3. Chapter 3

_Warning: This story will contain violence, language, and you will notice the extremely convenient situations that will most likely be confusing at first. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own any idea or character from the Drakengard franchise. Those rights are reserved to the creators and distributors to a lesser extent. _

_In summary I'm sorry if this has been ultimately confusing and futile it's just, by experience, I've found that if I give any clues at all this early in the game (hey, a pun) then ultimately it becomes REALLY obvious what I'm up to so sorry to keep readers in the dark. Oh yeah and I'm physically incapable of writing anything short (or well for that matter) so this may take awhile. Hmm sounds just like I'm whining. Well I'm writing this out of love so take it with a grain of salt. Drakengard plushies for everyone. _

**Vein of Grief **

Chapter 3

"I heard a dragon too," Nowe said. It was pitch black but he still raised his eyes to the sky in search of it. The voice was far off but the desert was so silent that it had carried on the winds. There was no sign of a dragon from where he stood. The blind man fidgeted and tapped his guide stick on the stone.

"If she doesn't know where he is…" Leonard started. Nowe looked back at him curiously.

"…This Caim you spoke of, is he connected to the dragon somehow?" Nowe asked.

"Yes. They are deeply connected though not by choice. It is a pact that binds them," Verdelet explained.

"A pact? With a human? That's quite unusual," Nowe started. He turned as he suddenly could hear the beating of wings from behind. His eyes widened as he saw the dragon. She was smaller then Legna but her crimson scales seemed to light up the very night. She landed just outside of the dais.

"_Humans. Do you know where my pact partner is?" _

Verdelet shook his head. "We have not seen him since you went out to try and protect the desert seal. We only found young Nowe here at the center and he claims to been the only one around."

"_How does one human just suddenly disappear?"_

Nowe took in his breath sharply when her yellow eyes came to rest upon him. He saw her slit-like pupils dilate and she let out a subtle laugh. If he hadn't been around Legna for so many years then it would have been impossible to discern it from any other sound that a dragon could make.

"_How fascinating. What exactly are you?"_

Nowe stepped back. It just got odder and odder. "I don't understand what you mean."

"_You are free to say that, child."_

Verdelet cleared his throat; it had been a whole two seconds since he had said something cryptic after all.

"Mighty dragon, I ask for your assistance. We will search for Caim but the important thing is protecting the other seals."

"_I will stay. My fate is too mingled with you humans to try and separate now. I must find Caim."_

Nowe felt his body relax as he realized that the dragon wasn't hostile. He half-expected her to question him more thoroughly but to the contrary she seemed…amused at just seeing him. He smiled and moved closer toward her.

"I know he mentioned me by name but I'm Nowe."

"_Yes. You may call me what you will." _

Nowe jerked as he saw all three of the others present sway in place. It was so oddly in unison, almost comical. Verdelet put his hand to his head.

"I heard a voice from afar… from the Imperial Gaol, asking for help."

_"That is no concern of ours_."

Nowe looked from the humans to the Dragon. "Tell me, are you all involved in a pact?"

Leonard nodded.

So if Nowe's knowledge of history was to be believed then a group of pact partners were responsible for the world not slipping into total chaos. He smiled to himself. To think it's still looked on as an entirely depraved act.

----------

The Grand Shrine was truly a monument to the power that mankind thought he had. As soon as the night sky cleared and the first orange rays of dawn were visible on the horizon he could see the complex rising near the edge of the sea. The fields and grass were a lively green as opposed to the dead area he had been witness to at the start of this strange journey.

Since leaving the house of the poor couple, Caim had run into a few of these 'Knights of the Seal'. Not only was he vastly unimpressed, he was willing to fight but for some reason they thought he was some sort of recruit. They didn't hesitate in giving him directions to this Grand Shrine.

It sounded like a good enough invitation to him.

Through the long night and the short morning, Caim tried to think of his situation. He had agonized as much as he was capable as to what his plan of action was. Nothing made any sense yet. To be honest, he didn't have a clue where exactly he was and what he was doing, apparently eighteen years in the future. His mind constantly went back to the war that he was supposed to be participating in not to mention his sister and Inuart. The man was lost to battle without Caim and his unit, the castle could fall at any time…oh wait it probably had.

The soldier paused before the large portcullis to the Grand Shrine, the only way in on foot. Everything was closed but there were four men on duty, presumably to let in anyone they deemed worthy. Caim felt his nonexistent patience wane so he went on his instincts when the front guard addressed him. He glared. The man didn't look fazed.

"State you business here. You don't look like the right sort to approach the Grand Shrine in broad daylight."

Caim didn't even try and think about what he meant by that. He reached back and gripped the hilt of his sword before nodding toward the gates. The man's expression didn't alter in the slightest.

"What, can't you talk? You want to break down the gate?"

Caim shook his head. At both.

"So what, you mute? How'd that happen?"

To this he rolled his eyes and shrugged. A second guard came up and nudged his comrade's armored shoulder with his spear.

"Say how are we supposed to figure out what he wants if he can't talk?"

His impression of the Knights diminished by the second. Caim was already suffering from battle withdrawal and these morons weren't helping.

"Oi, maybe he's too dumb to talk!" chimed the third. Caim's eyes flitted to him.

"Don't crowd me, I'm trying to figure this out," snapped the first. He rubbed the upturned visor of his helmet and looked Caim up and down again.

"Say you wouldn't happen to be one of the bounty hunters that General Gismor hired to take care of that Dragonboy?"

Sounded like a good enough excuse. Caim nodded and grabbed his sword hilt again to reaffirm this. That and if they decided to not let him in then he could always work off some of his excess frustration. The men nodded and the other two guards backed up in preparation.

"Raise the gate!"

The earth shook as the men on the other side of the gate strained and turned the crank. It slowly rose. Caim crossed his arms and observed, unimpressed. It was clearly just a show of the Grand Shrine's arrogance that the entryway was so large. He ignored the guards and moved right through to get his first look at the interior.

There was more green vegetation on the inside and buildings clustered together in well spaced clumps. The main part of the Grand Shrine took the form of a sort of castle, obviously where the Knights made their headquarters.

Caim walked on the makeshift road toward this central area. He and a small, marching teams of Knights were the only ones out. It was deafeningly quiet, even nature itself seemed to diminish inside the gates.

Unfortunately, the silence only ceased to annoy Caim further as all he had to do was think. For the first time he could remember he was utterly clueless. He didn't have a purpose or a battle. The only reason to travel this road was just to be in search of another one. He allowed himself a mirthful smile. Well, a soldier's life suited him just fine. He met the eyes of the knights as he drew level with them. The man in the lead, who wore a blue sort of cape over his gleaming silver armor, held the young man's eyes for a time as they passed. He was the first to look away though and Caim felt baleful happiness in this small victory.

"Halt. What business do you have at the Grand Shrine?" Asked a black-armored man. Caim had arrived at the front of two larger then life wooden doors, the entrance to the Knight's castle or as Caim thought of it, more showing off.

Caim didn't directly pay him any mind. He turned his attention past what was before him. He could hear the clash of steel against steel from inside and the scent of sweat and blood emitted clearly from inside this additional gate.

"Bastard."

The mute soldier put his hand up to block the black guard's sword as it came crashing down toward him. It clashed against his armor and Caim easily threw the broadsword off.

"Tell me what you're doing here," he demanded, harsher then before. You would think that he'd have more faith in the first line of guards. They were the ones who let him in in the first place. Caim shook his head and pointed to his throat.

"Can't talk, eh? How am I supposed to believe you? If you're mute then you should have some papers declaring where you come from and why you're here."

Caim shrugged. It appeared that this was the end of the line for him. He turned to leave but as he did there came the swift sound of something heavy flying through the air. Caim leapt forward and drew his sword, allowing it to make a fine whistle on the air as it swiftly met the black soldier's blade. The only visible part of his opponent, the eyes, widened in shock.

Caim rolled away and sprung back to his feet. He held his sword out with a look that clearly said 'just try it and you're dead'. The soldier drew back and sheathed his sword.

"Get out of here before I have you shot."

How brave. Caim's twisted smile was the last thing the guard saw before the young soldier turned his back and started to walk back the way he came. Needless to say, it unnerved the man. Caim heard his breath quicken and he turned to quietly knock on the metal doors three times in a row.

His smile didn't falter. Perhaps he made a good decision in coming to the Grand Shrine after all. An arrow sailed over his head and the young man turned to see that the gates were already open. A regiment of knights and archers poured out from the interior, stone courtyard.

He drew his sword again and turned to face his attackers. Caim's mind became simpler when he was in battle, all excess buzzing of the small amount of humanity left within him faded.

Perhaps it was this odd clarity that created the correct conditions. As the first soldier fell to his blade, Caim felt a sharp pain in his head, like there was something inside that was trying to claw its way out. He put his free hand to his forehead, just to make sure that he wasn't bleeding. His vision blurred for half a second and Caim writhed with pain. The pain rose in a crescendo, such that he didn't feel the arrow that reopened the wound in his shoulder.

_"Caim. Ca-im."_

There was another voice in his head but this was far more real and substantial then the woman's voice from before. Caim gripped his scalp harder and screamed soundlessly as he tore through the ranks of the soldiers with the combination of force and fire.

His eyes shifted from one side to the other like he was a cornered animal. He spun to see additional soldiers coming up from behind as well. He drew his sword in a circle around his body and launched himself at the new line. He tried to push the harsh voice back. His entire body ached but there was no way he could rest.

_"Caim. Ca-im."_

_I've modified parts of the story for convenience so it makes more sense as I go along. Besides they've been displaced so who's to say that everything would be the same at all, right? I'm going on themapsfor each game and ignoring the fact that they're bizarrely inconsistent.Oh FYI, this is a little confusing but Caim got taken from the far past and Nowe was shifted to a point quite a bit later then that. Caim was pushed to pretty much when Nowe left so that's an easy exchange to remember. Thanks so much for reading and I'll try to update as regularly as I can. _


	4. Chapter 4

_Warning: This story will contain a shortage of females (aka chicklessness), violence, language, and you will notice the extremely convenient situations and deviations from the original games this fic is based on. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own any idea or character from the Drakengard franchise. Those rights are reserved to the creators and distributors to a lesser extent. _

**Vein of Grief **

Chapter 4

Nowe shielded his eyes as he glanced up where the red dragon flew above their three-man line of horses. They were in route to where Caim and the dragon had left the Goddess when they had to fly to the desert to save Verdelet and watch the seal be destroyed. The group was currently still debating the voice that he heard. Nowe couldn't hear it but the other two complained about someone calling out for help.

He actually hadn't said much since he procured a horse from the desert prison and rode the night out behind the other two. His mind was currently embroiled in vast speculation as to his companions and current situation. The only good thing was that the Knights of the Seal didn't exist yet. That knowledge, while somewhat comforting, didn't really help ease his worry. After all, what good would it do for him to be in the past?

"We should search for the source of that voice, I hear it again," Leonard said.

"It is currently more important to protect the Goddess," Verdelet explained.

They continued on this line of conversation for some time. Nowe finally found it tiresome and he spoke up.

"You said that the voice was coming from an Imperial gaol?" Nowe asked.

Verdelet turned his head to take in the young man through one of his unsettlingly milky eyes. He had almost forgotten that Nowe was even there.

"Yes. It is obviously another pact partner. The fact that it carried to all three of us means that this person must be quite powerful…perhaps it is the will of the Gods that we help."

The corners of Nowe's mouth twitched upward. "Then why don't you do both? We could always split our forces…we do have the red dragon in our company."

He couldn't tell from the distance if Verdelet's eyes went toward the sky or not.

"Her main objective is to find Caim. I'm not certain if she would help us."

"Yes, dragons have an…innate sort of hatred for humans. Still…"

Nowe cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled up to her, just to make sure she could hear him.

"_Red Dragon, would you be willing to assist us in finding the source of the voice you keep hearing? The Hierarch seems to think it is important that we find it."_

Her wings flapped rapidly and Nowe clearly saw her head swivel over to point directly at him.

_"I'm impressed that you can speak our language…" _

"_I was raised by a dragon, I knew it before I understood the language of man,"_ Nowe explained.

Meanwhile, Leonard and Verdelet both turned their horses his way. Nowe could clearly see the expression of surprise on the hierarch's face.

_"…Fine. The two of us shall go on ahead and the humans can follow when they have secured the Goddess." _

_"Thank you." _

Nowe stopped his horse and leapt off. He tied the reins to Verdelet's saddle and smiled easily at the man.

"We'll go on ahead and find the source of the voice. You help the Goddess and follow," Nowe relayed.

"You mean that she is actually going to let you ride her?"

Nowe nodded and waved as the other two galloped on through the sand. They didn't have time for further questions.

The young man looked up and saw the Dragon change trajectory when they were completely out of sight. She flew toward the ground. Nowe started running when he judged she was ready and he allowed the wind to rush through him. He ignored the strain on his legs and leapt up when the sound of her wings was right by his ear. Nowe sailed free through the air, defying gravity for a long second before he landed right behind her head. The red dragon's wings skimmed the sand but she was soon separated from the ground and sailing into the mercifully cooler air. Nowe held on with one hand and had to smile at the weightless, almost insecure sensation of flying.

_"You do seem used to riding on a Dragon's back, child." _

_"Did you think I was insincere?" _

He heard that same laugh as before, much lighter then anything he ever heard from Legna. "_No, but then I can only speculate as to what you are." _

_"There you go again. What do you know that I don't?" _

_"If your dragon did not say then it is not my place to tell you. All things come in their own time Just know that I would not let some foolish human ride me like a mindless beast." _

"What about the person you made a pact with?" Nowe asked, switching back to the human's language. He unknowingly hit a sore spot and the red dragon suddenly did a complicated series of turns, most of them upside down. Nowe yelped and grabbed onto her neck with both hands to secure himself.

_"That was a different matter entirely. The only reason I made a pact with that man was because he and I both were dying. He is a frighteningly strong human…if he can be called that."_

"What do you mean?" Nowe pushed his hair back, his head still spun from the unwarranted movement but he had to be proud of the fact that he didn't panic, or fall off.

_"His bloodlust is something to behold. He shows no mercy and only lives for revenge." _

Somehow Nowe couldn't imagine the hero that he heard about from the Knights as a bloodthirsty monster. It just didn't seem…ideal. Then again they weren't either.

"You're serious? So you pact was just an act of desperation?"

_"Perhaps defiance would be a better word."_

"…How far off is the Gaol?"

_"The voice grows stronger as we near it. It will not be long now"_

"I hope that the hierarch was correct about this being important."

Nowe referred to the bat-like monsters and the ships that rose out from the distance as the dragon approached. He still only held on with one hand, but Nowe drew closer to her red scales to decrease his visibility.

_"Hang on, child. We're going to scour the sky."_

Nowe nodded but another question occurred to him as she sent out a blazing fireball at the approaching enemy.

"So are you worried about Caim at all?" he asked.

_"If I were to show concern it would be for whoever found him." _

----------

Caim was so eager to continue the battle that he was the one who pushed forward against the enemy lines and into the courtyard of the Grand Shrine. It was a more appropriate place to fight as there seemed an endless quantity of soldiers inside and plenty of room for movement He grinned in pure mirth as his blade took life after life. It was a rhythm; if he stopped then his fleeting mind might talk him out of it.

His head ached still from the voice that had called out to him. Caim had long since pushed it back with blood and screams but he could almost feel something still in his mind, foreign and desperate.

The soldier paused in his tracks when the battle created a natural lull. The knights wise enough to be observant seemed daunted by Caim's sheer bloodlust. His body, at least, was partially glad for the drop in activity as he had a chance to catch his breath. Caim kicked away one of the fallen bodies and he scraped his sword against the ground before bringing it up to urge more enemies on.

"This is ridiculous. What has happened?"

Caim focused his eyes where the remaining sea of knights parted to reveal a petite woman in white. His eyes didn't remain on her for long. He focused instead on the long, silver spear she wielded.

"He attacked us, Eris," said one of the men closest to her. The young woman's eyes moved in horror over the exceedingly bloody battlefield. She clenched her jaw as she calculated the sheer number of men done in by Caim.

"I will not stand for this. How can you come in and massacre my men? Have you no humanity?"

Caim's smile widened as her words washed over him. He leapt over the last line of bodies just as she raised her spear. Eris visibly seemed taken aback by his lack of response but she appeared willing enough to fight.

"Fine, demon. We shall battle."

That was enough of an invitation. Caim's mouth opened in a silent sort of battle cry as his sword swung to meet her spear. She was stronger then he would have expected but her fingers slipped on the silver weapon and she trembled with the effort of keeping him off.

Caim withdrew his sword suddenly and he grabbed her spear with his free had before delivering a swift kick to her stomach. Eris coughed and tried to stab him with her weapon but Caim easily dodged it and he used his blade to knock her weapon away.

It was at this time that several of her men darted forward. Eris danced under his swing and dove to reclaim her weapon.

"Don't interrupt us. This will be a fair fight," she screamed as she lunged at him again, bringing the blade up to try and catch him in the leg. Caim blocked the spear with his sword again and he returned with a fireball.

"Augh!" Eris ducked and immediately felt a pain in her side as the heavy blade slid over her skin. She twisted away from it but ended up back on her knees. Caim stepped on her hand to prevent her from using her weapon and raised his sword to strike.

He didn't complete this move but it wasn't for lack of trying. This break in action was only due to the fact that a large, coarse hand grabbed him hard around the waist. His sword fell unintentionally from his hand. Caim dug his nails into whatever lifted him off the ground but he only drew his own blood as it was rough stone.

"I don't believe it," said a small voice from behind him. Eris struggled to her feet and she looked past Caim toward whoever was speaking. She gripped her waist but it was obvious that she was trying to act like the wound didn't bother her.

"Hierarch Seere…do you know this, this monster?" she asked.

The Golem turned around and held up Caim, shaking him back and forth, to indicate whether or not this was what the hierarch wanted. Caim was a little disoriented as his bloodlust gave way to confusion. The rattled parts of his mind snapped into place and he had a small moment of 'what the hell was I doing' as he glanced around his self-made battlefield. There was a boy, maybe five or six, standing on a higher platform above the courtyard. Though it was baffling, he did wear the robes marking him as a hierarch.

"I thought I did…Caim is that you?" the boy asked.

Putting thoughts of the validity of a child as hierarch aside, Caim couldn't recall ever laying eyes on him before. He did know his name, though. Caim jerked his head up and down.

"Did you say Caim?" Eris queried.

"Yes. He looks just as when I first met him. How is this possible?" Seere put his small hand to his chin as he appeared to want to think on it right then and there. Caim pounded on the Golem's hand to get his attention. His head felt very light indeed due to the monster's uncannily strong grip. Caim felt as though he would be squeezed in two if he stayed any longer. Seere looked up in curiosity then beckoned at his pact partner.

"Oh, sorry. Golem put him down here."

Seere moved to the side and the creature made a groaning noise of assent as he took a few earth-shaking steps forward. If Caim weren't suffering from an uncomfortable lack of air he would have wondered how he didn't notice the thing till it was right behind him. He went into a small fit of coughing when the golem set him down and he grabbed the balcony for support. Caim took gasping breaths and then he lifted his head slowly to glare at the boy before him. Up close he looked even younger, if that was possible, and he regarded Caim with a look of perplexed concern.

"It is you, right? I don't understand. Why do you look the same?"

Caim shrugged. He nudged Seere with his leg before shaking his head exuberantly.

"You don't know me?"

Nod.

"I can't believe it. Why are you here?"

Shrug.

"You don't know? Then why did you kill all those soldiers?"

Kick.

"Fine. I'm Seere. We met on our journey when I was looking for my sister. Don't you remember Leonard or Arioch or hierarch Verdelet?"

The last name rang a bell but he had never met the man. Caim shook his head. He kicked Seere again as the apparently not-so-young boy heaved a sigh of exasperation.

The hierarch jumped as Caim straightened, eyes wide. If he really was in the future then the hierarch might know the reason he didn't have a voice. He nudged (kicked) Seere again and pointed to his throat.

"I know you can't speak."

Caim rolled his eyes. He nodded and then pointed to his throat again before shrugging. Seere reacted in obvious surprise.

"You don't know why it is you can't speak? Well…follow me."

Seere turned on his heel, intentionally causing his robes to billow out behind him. Caim picked himself up and glanced over the balcony at his sword, at least three stories below. He would have to get it later apparently. The soldier sighed soundlessly and turned to follow the boy.

Seere didn't make it very far before Eris was in the hall before him. She was disoriented and gasping. She obviously ran to cut them off.

"Hierarch. I believe that you are in danger."

"…Forgive me or perhaps I should say forgive Caim. This is a very unusual situation and I'm sure he didn't exactly intend to lose control."

Who was this kid to speak for him? Caim scowled but he couldn't say anything to oppose the boy. Eris stared, openmouthed as Seere passed her.

"I suggest that you go see that your wounds are taken care of…"

She stomped her foot and pointed to Caim as he passed her, projecting his own grimly dark aura.

"You mean that he killed a ton of my men and he's just going to be let off?"

"I believe that they all fought with him willingly. General Gismor himself has been throwing away the lives of young men left and right."

Eris swallowed and she looked as though she was trying to digest some sort of live insect but she didn't follow.

Seere led Caim into his personal library. It was a large, naturally lit space that was much longer then it was wide. The sheer number of books threw Caim for a loop as he crossed the threshold but Seere wasn't intending to sightsee. Where the bookcases ended there was a large mirror that reflected the balcony that it was directly across from. It gave the impression that the room was far more open and larger then it really was. Caim blinked as he stood next to Seere before it, bloodstained and disheveled while the hierarch acted like this was all perfectly normal.

"Stick out your tongue," Seere instructed. Caim glared down at his reflection.

"You'll understand if you see it."

Morbid curiosity alone drove Caim to do as he was told. He opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, feeling like some sort of disobedient child. All thoughts of absurdity were as hard to find as traces of his sanity when he saw there was a mark upon it. It was black and intricately designed, quite unsettling. Caim couldn't mistake it for anything other then a pact emblem. He had seen them only in books before but faced with it was something else entirely. His tongue burned, almost as if the mark was wickedly excited that its bearer was in the know. Caim put his hand over his mouth and turned away from the mirror.

That would explain where his voice went but what did he ever make a pact with? He certainly would have remembered that. Seere cocked his head to the side curiously.

"Wow, you certainly do seem shocked. I take it you don't even remember making a pact?"

Caim shook his head. Why would he ever want to?

"You did make one though, with a most powerful creature, a dragon."

Caim whipped his head around. He opened his mouth to scream at the boy but the words didn't come. He clenched his jaw and bit his tongue instead. That was even more preposterous. The Empire and dragons were nearly interchangeable as his objects of hatred. He clenched his fists and strode back toward the door.

"Caim. Where are you going?" Seere asked.

Caim shook his head and kept moving.

"I can help you! What can you do on your own? The dragon isn't even around for you."

That was fine by him.

_Yeah, it's pretty darn improbable that Caim would be able to move as freely as he did after picking off so many of the Knights but hey, it's a time of war and they do know that they were the ones who started it after all. Anyway so ends another chapter and my angst-o-meter for Caim is through the roof. Thanks for reading and I hope you'll continue to at least find it morbidly fascinating. _


	5. Chapter 5

_Warning: Not much has changed. I still shall warn thee of violence, language, Caim, convenient situations, deviations from the original games, blinding grammatical errors, and my lackluster narrative skills. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own any idea or character from the Drakengard franchise. Those rights are reserved to the creators and distributors to a lesser extent. _

_Note: The mysterious voice from the first and second chapters will now be shown in bold to try and cut down on confusion. The mysterious voice is supposed to be convenient after all. _

**Vein of Grief **

Chapter 5

Wandering was cruel to both the mind and the body. First you had absolutely nothing better to do then to observe the countryside and the various states disrepair of the human settlements. Then there was the weather, it either got too hot or too cold. It was also too quiet which lead to involuntary wanderings of the mind. Finally there were the monster attacks. The big multi-colored ogre monsters or the little mean ones with staffs and bombs seemed to be everywhere the moment one got a certain distance from the current example of civilization.

Well, Caim really didn't care much about the monsters. They were the one break from the boredom and personal insanity he felt with the absence of his usual bloodlust. You could say it was a vacation of sorts. He was currently in a lull though and his brain kept battering questions at him. He couldn't keep the damn things at bay for forever.

Caim had easily left the Grand Shrine. For reasons not worth speculating on, he barely ran into a live Knight on his way out. His sword had even been propped up against the courtyard's gate on his way out. He pretty much assumed that Seere's instruction kept him from being attacked within the Grand Shrine. The biggest annoyance though was the small contingent of Knights that followed him from the gate. Caim quickly did away with that annoyance the moment they were in the secluded wilderness past the Blessed Plains.

He currently walked the way toward what the few travelers he passed called "Mourning Stream". With the name in mind, he certainly didn't expect for it to be a veritable desert.

Caim took a minute to rest under one of the few sad, dried out trees on the side of the road. It literally looked like a twisted piece of black growing out of the sandy earth and dead, yellow grass. He drew out his sword and made a distasteful face at it. He dug deep to find a rag. He detested monster blood, it was thicker then human and it had a different consistency altogether, that didn't even include the smell.

Caim stopped working at his blade when he noticed how completely silent it had become. There were usually the sounds of far off monsters or animals nearby along with the howling of the wind, all things that he really could care less about. Now it was so quiet it was deafening.

"_Caim…Caim."_

There was that damned voice again.Caim shook his head and he swiped his sword at the air before him, wanting to draw off his unseen caller. To put it simply, he was irritated with the voices in his head.

"_Caim…Caim."_

_Silence! Stop tormenting me!_

**Foolish human. Don't you care how she feels? I would hope that there would at least be one spot of grey in that black heart of yours. **

It was a veritable party for the voices in Caim's head. For a moment he could still hear the desperate, painful voice but it soon gave way to the uncaring one that he first heard. Caim crossed his arms like a spoiled child and put all of his will toward pushing the voices out, which was harder then it sounded since he didn't rightly know how to even start.

**Don't even try. **

_Vile demon. Get out of my head. _

**Nice to meet you too. **

_Only a coward resorts to such tactics. Either show yourself or leave me. _

Caim flinched as she came back; her voice was smooth and amused.

**Is that any way to treat your benefactor? I'm the one who controls how long you stay in this little predicament. **She practically purred.

_Don't make me laugh. Who are you?_

**You're not being polite so I don't think I'll tell you. You can call me what you want.**

_Foul witch. _

**Fine. You may call me Mistress. **

Caim smiled darkly. It was a small victory but it was nice to know that she wasn't incapable of being annoyed.

_Are you supposed to be some sort of God? _

**What will you do now?**

Caim paused. She hadn't answered his question but he didn't call her on it as she brought up an irritatingly good point. He turned his head to the side and closed his eyes. He still couldn't hear external noise, that in itself made him nervous. He tapped his hand against his leg but it still yielded no noise. Caim got a little out of hand then as he started stabbing the hard grass with the tip of his blade rapidly. Mistress started in on another round of laughter.

**You have no battle. **

_I do you merely took me out of it._

**You have _no_ battle.**

Caim bit his tongue and gagged involuntarily as he tasted ash. He put his hand into his mouth and drew it back but there was nothing unusual. Perhaps he had just imagined it.

What was he going to do? He shouldn't be expected to remember all that passed but that fact didn't exclude him from the knowledge that he was dangerously clueless.

**Perhaps you shouldn't have stormed out of the Hierarch's company. He could have answered many of your questions.**

He knew well enough that the Empire and the Union were long gone and the world was currently led by the Knights. The war was over but there was still something big going on, it would be an understatement to say the people in the Grand Shrine were on edge. He also had to take Seere's comment about their General sending men into battle into account. Though there wasn't anything directly said, there was a war going on.

**You're still preoccupied with the past.**

Caim scoffed. He knew his sister was dead even though it hadn't been said in so many words.

**Then there's the pact that you can't remember making and why would you? You were taken from a point before you even made it. **

Caim had a sudden desire to disembowel whatever sort of body or creature went along with that arrogant voice.

_Do not mention that. How is it even possible that I am bound by a pact that I never consented to?_

**Do not ask me, I only take you from time to time.**

He paused in thought and gave the air before him a glare that promised violence.

**Okay so I lied but I'm the one in control so I can do that. Come on, stop brooding and do something. **

Caim thought that her suggestion was quite the novel idea. He rushed to his feet and drew his sword before driving it angrily into the dead wood of the tree from which he still sought shelter.

_Damn you, stop thinking that all of this is such a great amusement. I swear if I ever find you I'll…_His thoughts became sincerely less complex when he went on to visualize cutting up some sort of beast with a woman's face. He thought he could hear her laughing in head. Looking crazier then ever, Caim glanced all around and then toward the sky. If this 'Mistress' was one of the gods then he definitely didn't believe in her.

The external noise came back then, she was gone. Perhaps in celebration, Caim found it in him to relax; he even leaned back against the tree. He kept his eyes on the gloomy grey sky and he finally accepted the fact that he really didn't have a purpose here.

Something black streaked across the sky. Caim started and he ran out from under the tree so his eyes could track its trajectory across the sky. He could hear the strong, rapid beat of wings and he could almost feel the scream of fire as it hit the airships in pursuit of the black form. It was a dragon. Pure, unrefined hatred boiled in Caim and before he realized he was out and running toward it. It didn't matter that it was so far, so futile a target for him to pursue. He threw logic to the winds and ran haphazardly through the Mourning Stream, after the black dragon with no other purpose in mind.

----------

To say that Nowe was impressed by the red dragon's ability to fight would be comparable to stating that humans had to breathe. It was just that obvious. She treated her battles as something so natural that he would do her a disservice with simple compliments. While riding astride her in battle, Nowe got to see firsthand the desperation he had only felt at odd points on his journey so far. Legna always seemed so in control even in air battles they had run about only a few times.

Angelus had taken out all the targets in the sky in good time. She was hit several times but she pushed forward without regard to recovery. Nowe's mind was still so engulfed by her fighting he barely realized when she reached the narrow mountains before the Imperial Gaol.

_"Child, pay attention. There are archers within that small passage. You will have to go in on foot and I shall follow when you have eradicated them,"_ she said.

Nowe snapped out of his stupor and his eyes immediately widened as they took in the sheer numbers of dark clad soldiers waiting within the mountain pass.

"I have to take out all of them?" he asked in sheer shock. Her earlier amusement seemed to fade.

_"Oh…I am used to Caim joyously killing all enemy soldiers. As long as we can make it through I suppose it does not matter how many of their numbers you kill. The Empire has a frightening amount of soldiers from what I have seen up until now so I would not discourage you from killing as many as possible."_

She spoke of such barbaric acts like they were perfectly normal. She and Legna shared the same view of war and enemy soldiers; that was for certain. Well, they were dragons so what need did they have for humans? Nowe hesitantly nodded.

"I'll do my best." Nowe braced himself as the red dragon dived close to the ground. He leapt off in the spot that most resembled a clearing and drew his sword.

He met the first line of enemies with a great slash before darting from soldier to soldier, catching them swiftly but sometimes not enough to do more then incapacitate. The red dragon watched while she circled above the battle.

Nowe was perhaps a little too careless as one of the men he could have sworn he cut down clambered to his feet and raised his sword from behind to strike. The red dragon let out a series of fireballs at the last minute. She got the soldier and she almost got Nowe in the process as well. He straightened and looked up at her quizzically.

_"You should pay attention, child. You lenience is not doing you any favors."_

Nowe's sword slammed against a large soldier's helmet, ringing it like a bell.

"I don't…pretend to enjoy killing or battles. I think that…humans should stray from sheer violence. War is…one thing but I don't like to see such suffering." There were long pauses between some of the words as Nowe dodged and he even did an impressive flip backwards at one instance.

"_It would seem that you like humanity more then that human," _she said.

"Why is that odd?"

_"Keep moving or else you shall lose. You are a surprisingly strong fighter despite your apparent convictions."_

The young man stiffened and he aimed just short of the chest on the next man he attacked. He couldn't help not being eager to kill, especially since he knew nothing about the enemy that he was fighting.

Nowe rushed toward the interior of the pass, taking out more soldiers as he did. He mainly concentrated on taking out all of the archers and the more threatening clumps of soldiers. For some soldiers, killing their leader would leave them blinking and looking around. It was startling for Nowe to be confronted with the Empire soldiers. It was like they weren't even human.

"Red Dragon, can you still hear the voice?" Nowe asked.

"_It has grown faint but yes, I can still hear. The gaol is just up ahead." _

Nowe broke through the last big cluster of soldiers and out of the pass. He looked up to just make sure he was level with the dragon before he continued.

It was dark but he could see a large, desolate building just on the other side of the bridge. The only source of light came from small fires and torches that lined the way to the bridge and around the gaol.

"What a terrible place..."

"_What did you expect?"_

_"_How do we get in?" He asked.

"_Here. Get onto my back again and I shall move us closer. You would only run through these fiends anyway."_

Nowe nodded and he leapt when she swooped down behind him. Mounting a dragon in the heat of battle was one of those moves that, when successful, made him feel infinitely impressive. He would quickly orient himself and then it was just a matter of enjoying the wind and egging the dragon on while still reeling from the success of the jump. When failed he would fall hard onto his rear and be rewarded by Legna's claws scraping the top of his head. This time, thankfully for his pride, it was a success. Nowe put one hand on her neck and sheathed his sword.

The red dragon had a bit of an issue trying to evade all the arrows that were now entirely concerned with bringing her down. Every time she would do an impressive, unsettling turn in the air they would merely follow her and try again the moment she stopped. After a few minutes of this she had lost all patience. The red dragon growled and she moved from formation to formation to incinerate the archers. When she had taken care of enough so that she could fly without so much of an eye to the marksmen, she started in one the clumps of normal soldiers relentlessly.

Nowe flushed, she had just taken him up again so he was out of the way. He tapped her neck lightly.

"I can go down if you're getting tired of trying to take them all…"

"_It was enough of an agony to see you before; I do not wish to repeat the experience. I suppose it will take me time to adjust to your habits."_

By this time there were few soldiers left to fight. The red dragon circled to the entrance of the gaol before Nowe jumped off. He glanced up at the depressing building and started as he heard a voice from behind.

"Hello young Nowe. It seems we've made good time. The Goddess is safe," Leonard said as he galloped toward them. Nowe dived to the side when he saw he was in the animal's direct path. Leonard hadn't really judged the distance to the gaol nor did he contemplate how fast he was going. The fact that he couldn't see really didn't help either. The horse whinnied and came to an abrupt halt about a foot before the wall. Leonard wasn't so lucky. He sailed over his saddle and smacked hard into the grimy stone. Nowe stared in horror and looked about when he heard a snide, high-pitched giggle from around the horse.

"Leonard, are you okay?" Nowe asked as he approached the fallen blind man. Leonard gripped the wall for support as he got back to his feet. He rubbed his nose and turned his head toward the source of the giggling.

"You should have warned me. I shall be fine but I thank you for your concern," he replied.

Nowe turned his head back to the horse as the malicious laugher increased. He jumped as a disgustingly green fairy zipped out and came to float before his face. It inspected him before going into motion again. The fairy made such dizzying arcs and spins that the young man had to close his eyes temporarily.

"_Oh my, oh my so this is the one that replaced the bloody human? I liked the other one better, this one looks like he's about to cry."_

"I am not," Nowe protested as he rubbed his eyes.

"_I suggest you ignore it,"_ the red dragon advised.

"I agree. This creature is a burden even to me," Leonard added.

"_Now that's not nice to say, I'm your partner after all. Oh look, the old, ugly bald man comes."_

The fairy moved to Leonard and Verdelet came level with the party.

"I can still hear the voice from inside. We should not dally, the Goddess' burden grows stronger by the second," he mourned.

Nowe sighed and pushed against the large wooden doors. He distantly remembered Verdelet from when he was a very small child but he honestly hadn't recalled that the man had an inescapable flair for the dramatic.

When he had the doors open, Nowe clearly heard high-pitched laughing. It was erratic and uncontrolled, the laugh of someone quite unbalanced.

"Is that the voice that you heard?" he queried.

"I believe that is the source of it," Verdelet responded.

If he had been a more pessimistic person Nowe would have quit right then and there.

_Writing this chapter proved to be a challenge. I completely sympathize with Caim's "what the hell am I doing?" sort of attitude. Thank you all for your comments; it's nice to get honest feedback. As always, thanks for reading. _


	6. Chapter 6

_Warning: Not much has changed. I still shall warn thee of violence, language, Caim, convenient situations, deviations from the original games, blinding grammatical errors, and my lackluster narrative skills. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own any idea or character from the Drakengard franchise. Those rights are reserved to the creators and distributors to a lesser extent. _

_Wow it's been so long (over a year) since I've written this. To be honest I lost all inspiration about it as this isn't my usual type of story. Bear with me and if you were at all interested in reading more then I am especially thankful. _

**Vein of Grief **

Chapter 6

The elf sat in the smoldering ashes of what was a working Gaol before the Red Dragon and the Empire had their fiery battle. Nowe stepped in close behind Verdelet as the old man went to greet the apparent 'mysterious voice' that he and the Lady Dragon heard from afar. Nowe's first impression of the female elf was one of startling unease. She swayed in place and despite the dim light that the ruins provided he could see how bleak and empty her eyes were. It appeared as though she had lost her soul or perhaps she was just that insane. Nowe's fears were not at all quelled when she opened her mouth and arms ecstatically at their approach. Her eyes stared straight through them and the elf swayed on the spot before she addressed Verdelet.

"Tell me, are there any children here?" she asked vaguely. Her voice was almost more unsettling then her gaze. It held some sort of sweet venom as if she were going to pounce on any second. Nowe shuddered as her eyes swept over the small number of men in the area. Her hollow eyes snapped to his face in an instant and her feet carried her swiftly to his side. Before he could so much as whimper in protest she fastened her hands on his shoulders.

"You are not yet fully grown…I bet you will taste sweet…"

"H…Hey…I'm not…I mean please do not come so close," Nowe managed.

Her choice of words was accurate. As Verdelet turned they both saw what exactly her actions entailed. The elf woman's grip tightened and she leaned forward with a tranquil sort of smile. Her jaws opened wide and the elf woman gleefully giggled before she attempted to snap her mouth down on Now's shoulder. He had at least sort of anticipated this and he got his arm between their bodies as she attacked. Nowe made a small noise to convey his utter terror with her actions as her teeth grazed his thick shirt. The elf only got a mouthful of fabric which was quite different from what she expected. She sputtered a bit reflexively and Nowe impolitely put his hands upon her abdomen and pushed. The former knight's movement tangled their legs up and they fell had to the ground. Things were chaos for a short minute as the pair struggled and pushed against each other, each for entirely different reasons. Nowe kept pushing harshly against her as he was in a near state of panic. The elf manically laughed again as she attempted to seize his wrist with her abnormally sharp nails.

"_I suggest you make more of an effort to separate yourself from the elf," _Angelus supplied helpfully. Nowe finally got his left leg from under her knee and he scrambled away on all fours like a spooked dog.

"She has lost her womb," Verdelt said impatiently. He had obviously been waiting to impart this information upon Nowe and the stationary Leonard but he was interrupted by the woman's apparent desire to eat Nowe alive. He quite obviously considered this to be a great offense to his pride as a storyteller and all around boring old man. Nowe was irate with his unchanging attitude.

"Does that explain why she is trying to eat me?" Nowe asked as he got to his feet and started running when the woman regained her balance. She returned to her task with renewed enthusiasm but she was interrupted by two flashes: one of red, one of blue as they moved directly from inside her body.

"Yes…she…Arioch has made a pact with Undine and Salamander and her womb was the price," Verdelet confirmed.

"And apparently her sanity was bartered away as well," Nowe cried as he ran in a little circle around Leonard.

"No, I would think that she lost that before her pact," Leonard commented. Verdelet nodded and he raised his staff just as Arioch and Nowe came near. He held out his weapon and visible scripture emitted from the tip. The characters lazily glided on the air to halt Arioch in her chase. Her eyes barely reflected the fact that she knew vaguely what was happening as her body was wound in the enchantment. Verdelet's voice donted as he chanted what Nowe guessed was a containment spell on Arioch. The Red Dragon scoffed. She could tell what he was doing and to what end.

"_You mean we are taking this elf along with us? How many more useless companions do you intend to gather?" _

Nowe's eyes grew wide. She was coming along? He turned toward the Red Dragon in disbelief but his attention was diverted when he felt the elf's hungry eyes upon him again. She was no longer drooling after him but it was unsettling all the same to see her huge, empty eyes focused on him alone.

"She is a pact-partner and she will probably prove useful in battle. It is much safer to take her along," Verdelet said cryptically.

"You mean for anyone else she might encounter who is not prepared to handle her madness" the blind man supplied.

"I should think that was obvious," Nowe muttered. He was about to turn and retreat to the Red Dragon's side when he felt something brush against the skin of his neck lightly. He reached out instinctively and grabbed at his necklace while it fell. It must have come loose in the conflict that he had with Arioch. Nowe's hands failed to grab the simple leather that went about his neck. It rolled on the slightly uneven ground and then toward Verdelet. The Hierarch bent down and picked the necklace up. He inspected at the item curiously as Nowe approached him to retrieve it.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

Nowe blinked. "It was a gift from a friend." He found it a bit strange that Verdelet asked about it. The golden charm that served as the main attraction was mostly unremarkable, just a simple circle, but it was a pleasing enough design.

Verdelet hesitantly dropped it back into Nowe's offered hand and the young man tightly tied the pieces together just under the back of his shirt. He noticed that Verdelet was still staring but his face did not hold grief, just curiosity.

"What is it?" Nowe finally asked.

"Nothing in particular. I just thought it was an odd coincidence…"

Nowe pulled on the charm to make sure that it wasn't just going to fall right off again. He waited for the Hierarch to continue but the man never did. Nowe supposed that he needed to give him further prodding.

"Odd coincidence?" Nowe finally supplied.

"Yes. I usually would not have noticed but Caim had a similar design, as does the Goddess. They both have bracelets rather than necklaces. I suppose I thought that it was just curious as Caim is not the sort of person frivolous enough to wear jewelry unless it had some significance."

So that meant that Verdelet possibly considered him frivolous? Nowe rubbed the top of his head almost grumpily. It didn't help that Arioch chose that moment to rise to her feet and move in beside the Hierarch which was a little too close to Nowe for comfort. This time he did manage to retreat to the Dragon's side. This earned him a snort of disdain from the Dragon.

"_As long as you keep your distance I doubt that she will be that much of a bother. Or were you raised unable to face hardship?"_

Nowe's head snapped up in defiance. "I was trained as Knight and I have been well prepared on how to face such things…" this sounded uncertain, even to Nowe. He averted his eyes and the Red Dragon merely ruffled her wings in annoyance. It was obvious to Nowe that he was quite a bit different then the humans she was used to.

The former Knight's mind wandered from topic to topic quite remotely as they flew. He was so used to the sensation of being in the air that it tended to bring him to a meditative sort of state when there was no threat nearby. As Nowe experienced with Legna, it seemed that their time was spent in only two ways. They were either swamped with enemies or else they were in total isolation. He noticed from his advantaged position in the air exactly how much the landscape had failed to change over the years. Perhaps it was due to the war but large human settlements were few in number. The land varied in its state as they passed from location to location. It was painfully obvious as to the location of the sites where the two armies clashed. The entire land was stripped bare of all its life like some sort of infection till the edges where it ran back to the overgrown wilderness.

"_You are being awfully quiet, young one,"_ The Red Dragon exclaimed. This sudden comment came right out of nowhere for Nowe who jerked his head up as his eyes focused on the back of the dragon's neck. He had been deep in thought for so long that her sudden words did little to bring him back into the present. The Red Dragon apparently caught this oddness in his demeanor. She turned her head back toward him while they flew.

"This place is rather upsetting to view, even from this distance," Nowe said.

_"What would you expect? Such is the natural consequence that the land suffers due to the humans' foolish war. You are just now noticing?" _

As embarrassing as it was, Nowe had been too caught up in the newness of his predicament to do much sightseeing and subsequent reflection. He bit his lip and averted his eyes toward her gleaming scales. It was probably a mental sort of decision but he was under the distinct impression that everything about her made her noticeably warmer than Legna. He was straightforward but the Red Dragon was not an impossible being with which to converse.

"This land is not all that different in the place where I am from. The ground itself is not as war torn but there are few large human settlements and everything seems to have an overall feeling of desolation."

_"That is a promising future." _

Nowe smiled vaguely, "I've noticed over the years that dragons in general have a very cynical view of the world and especially of humans."

_"I do not claim to be different but I believe that being around my pact-partner has only further lowered my opinion of the humans as a whole."_

"Tell me. Is this Caim as frightening as everyone seems to imply?" Nowe asked.

The Red Dragon did a small twirl in midair as she took some time to answer his question.

"_I doubt that you would even wonder about that were you to meet him."_

"So where is he? I mean, you're pact partners so you should be able to tell where the other one is, correct? I know that it means you share one life."

_"If I knew then he would be here. It is unsafe in such a time of war to be away from the human who shares my life. Especially considering the particular creature of which we speak." _

Nowe found this almost comical though slightly frightening in the same instant.

"Sounds like a total monster."

_"To the Union humans he is a necessary commodity while they fight this meaningless battle." _

Nowe wished that his time with the Knights had been better spent. He had attempted on several different occasions to read about the state of things before the Knights of the Seal but most of his teachers had discouraged it. They stressed constantly that the Knight's purpose was to uphold their ideals and look to the future rather than dwelling on the past. Thinking on such a matter in perspective made his blind loyalty that much more distasteful. Nowe frowned as his mood blackened further.

"I don't think that we would readily get along but I am intrigued about someone who has managed to survive these circumstances. Before this I thought that our fight against the Knights of the Seal was brutal but when I am with your group it feels like the very air is conspiring against us."

_"This world is on the brink of collapse."_

Nowe shook his head. According to what he heard and read it came very close until this Caim person and his allies had saved everyone. Had he taken stock in dreaming of such a tale he would have been disillusioned after spending three minutes with the Dragon and Caim's companions. Of course, his current situation begged the question of how the future might be altered due to this displacement in the past. Nowe wondered again about the voice he had heard before being sent to the past and about that strange force's intentions.

"Would it be too optimistic to think I should change the past to try and save the future?" he asked.

_"Such sentimentality would be out of place with this group."_

"I couldn't agree more."

----------

It was black…or was it blue? It was nearly impossible for Caim's eyes to discern something as asinine and unimportant as the dragon's color. After all, he only cared about the "dragon" bit. Though he was running so fast and hard past the point of exhaustion, the soldier still felt no closer to the beast. To Caim's eyes it was still just a flash of dark moving erratically around the blinking lights of battle.

He was forced to stop when he came to the edge of a steep cliff that led to a natural yet steep incline in the land's geography. He clenched his hands so hard that he would have drawn blood if his hands were bare. As it was the man was in more than enough pain. The discomfort in his chest only worsened as his breath came in short and labored gasps. Caim's legs tingled with dull pain and he felt almost ecstatically dizzy. Despite this, his overall driving force was the venomous hatred he felt for the distant creature. He had a dire need to face the beast and see it eye to eye before he could sink his blade into its black hide. Not just a dragon but a dark dragon. Caim felt as though the image of his parent's demise was burned into his retinas and he shook his head before he ran to the side and too the long way around the large cliff.

The opponents in the sky were entirely new to Caim who was entirely unaccustomed to watching the skies during a battle. There were at least two large flying ships and several cube shaped objects relentlessly attacking the dragon. He assumed that the ships had something to do with those Knights that he had fought earlier as even from afar the insignia was very recognizable on the side of the ships. There were several other more organic creatures, bats and griffons that streamed across the sky at random intervals to try and catch the dragon off balance.

Caim did not allow himself even the momentary luxury of resting to regain his breath. Logically he knew that the battle would continue since the dragon had no viable way of flying off without sustaining serious damage from its opponents. He realized this but his mind had shut down as his desire for revenge did not want his body to rest for fear of prolonging the moment when he would meet the monster.

Of course, there was the even more logical matter of the dragon's position in the air while Caim had no means of getting there short of spontaneously growing wings. He would deal with that when he was nearby. If all else failed he could always cry out to it…except he had no voice because of the pact he couldn't remember making. Caim bit his tongue reflexively as this frustration set in anew which managed to coerce his mind back into more human state.

He had managed to get farther than he had originally expected and he could now hear the terrible crashing sounds of the dragon's fire hitting its material opponents and the inhuman screams of the various monsters that were dumb enough to get in its way. Caim smiled but it wasn't in appreciation. It wasn't positive or kind in any sense of the word but instead a grin that conveyed the madness plaguing his mind as he fulfilled his need to be close to the creature that he so desperately wanted to kill.

Another large gorge served as the battle area for the aerial conflict. Caim was in an elevated position all things considered but he could get no closer to the actual battle. He stopped right at the edge of what used to be a natural hill but much of the land had caved under the wreckage of a nearby ship. He coughed as the smoke and ash blew into his face by a hot wind, clouding his vision and forcing him to take his eyes off of his target.

The soldier wanted to scream or do something to get the beast's attention as the battle continued to wage but all he could do was watch as the beast triumphed over its numerous opponents, one by one. Its way of battling was quite precise and calculated. To Caim's well trained eyes, not a single fireball missed its intended target. The dragon sustained little damage as well. He strained to see more identifying features but all he could make out was the blackish blue scales, the wickedly sharp tail, and the dragon's reddish horns. There didn't appear to be anyone riding it. Caim would have wondered about it had he been in a state of normal concentration. The Knights of the Seal were relentlessly attacking a single dragon.

"Do you think that they have any idea where Nowe has gone?"

Caim blinked as he heard voices not to far off behind him. He was conflicted as he probably needed to defend himself but every other part of him that wasn't normative still wanted to watch the dragon just in case it decided to swoop his way even for an instant.

"I wouldn't think so…They use Legna as a marking point for Nowe so why would they attack him unless they suspected that Nowe and you were nearby?"

The second voice was obviously male. Caim hovered on indecision for another moment before his sense of danger won out and he turned in place with one hand on the hilt of his sword.

They were much closer than they sounded and they both halted when it was apparent from their end that he was standing in their way. Another burst of smoke swept over him but not before Caim got a general idea of their puzzling appearances. The male's clothes were unlike anything Caim had seen before but he was decently well built which made sense considering the size of the axe in his hand. The most notable feature by far was the fact that his head was obscured entirely by a dark helmet. Caim couldn't tell for sure but the thought that the face resembled a skull. He was accompanied by a petite blonde woman. That was about as much as Caim confirmed before the smoke passed between them. He was unsure again. Did these people mean any real harm? Before he was caught in this useless place he had only really thought of people in terms of the Empire or the Union. All of these people in plain clothes who he saw on the road or skirting the small villages were a baffling new obstacle.

The other two hadn't closed any distance by the time that the smoke cleared. The dragon let out a startling roar strong enough to cause the ground to tremble slightly. Caim half turned toward the outside and he blinked to try and clear his head. He wanted return his attention to the dragon and this desire gave him a confused, lightheaded feeling. He noticed only distractedly that the woman's mouth dropped open the moment she saw him and her eyes went so large that they looked as if they threatened to pop right out of her head. Caim clenched his hand on his sword hilt and he looked away from them finally to turn his head back toward the sky.

He heard something that sounded like choking from the two humans and then Caim distinctly noticed that there were hard and fast footfalls coming his way. His battle instincts took over instantly and Caim unsheathed his sword as he fully turned.

The soldier was a bit too late as the woman was already upon him. He saw a flash of pale hair and mad red eyes as she attacked. Caim took a step to the right and he brought his sword up to deflect her blow. The silver of her staff hit high on his cheek, narrowly missing his left eye. Caim barely registered the pain and warm trail of his blood as it slid down his face.

"Manah! What are you doing?" The man demanded. He had run up right behind her. He grabbed the woman away from Caim as he slashed to try and hit the woman in the chest in response to her strike. The woman struggled against her companion madly, knocking his helmet back with her elbow.

"It's him…" The woman finally screeched.

Caim stepped back to observe the situation warily just as a mammoth black shadow overtook the three of them. He turned around to see the black dragon beating silently behind them.

_"What is the meaning of this? Why is she suddenly so disturbed?" _The dragon asked.

Caim opened his mouth to try and say something to the dragon as he momentarily forgot his handicap. He twirled his sword around as the scene of his parent's death played again in his mind. The soldier disregarded all time and place and he leapt forward to attack the dragon. He was unaware of the fact that the dragon had his eye on Caim from the start and his tail quickly lashed out toward the human. Caim luckily heard its loud sweeping and he just managed to move out of the way. The sharp end sailed above his head but he couldn't avoid the bulk of the rest of the dragon's tail. It impacted him sharply from his back to his head. Caim's vision faltered and he collapsed unwillingly in front of the dark dragon and his strange companions.

_Note: I have no idea how Nowe got the necklace but I did notice that in the art for the first game both Caim and Furiae are wearing the same bracelet. Manah wears one in Drakengard 2 and Nowe has the charm on his necklace in his non-soldier outfit. Pretty curious._

_I wonder if young Caim died in the future would that make Angelus drop dead in the past? A totally random question, I know. _


End file.
